Expecting Magic
by UnluckyAmulet
Summary: Drabble. Lucy has never seen the snow.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Elfen Lied.

This is my second Elfen Lied fanfic. Pairings are Lucy/Kouta and implied Lucy/Mayu. Snow is an oddly easy thing to write about, for some reason. Probably since it's all pretty and silent and _ooohit'ssnowing! _(Yeah...)

Enjoy!

* * *

Lucy hated the colour white.

She remembers that place- The place with clean white walls, squeaky white floors and those _humans_ in their white coats, and it makes her want to just kill them, smear everything white with their blood, splatter it, cover up the yawning oblivion with the pretty scarlet blood.

It's not important anymore. But that is why.

But Kouta looks at her with those hopeful, kind eyes, so she smiles and goes with him, though she doesn't know where she's going or why she's letting his cousin come with them. But Nyuu wouldn't hurt Yuka, would she?

The quiet girl comes too. Mayu. Lucy doesn't hate her- Strange. Maybe it's because she reminds him of Kouta, her gentleness, maybe. Or perhaps it's the pain Lucy can see in her eyes- A sad, haunted pain that makes Lucy think that maybe she doesn't need to suffer.

They all go, even Nana. Who still mumbles to her Papa in her dreams. She stares up at the sky, her mouth open, like a child. They are the first to enter the huge field, a glittering white canvas.

They all run ahead, barely able to contain their joy. Lucy hesitates. The sky above is the palest of grey, thick with promise.

"Nyuu-chan!"

Suddenly, Kouta is pulling at her, grinning like a five-year-old, thrusting a gloved finger at the sky, "It's snowing!"

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Mayu whispers, as though everything will fade away if she disturbs it. Her eyes are even wider then usual, and for a second she looks the age she actually is. "Wanta, look!"

The puppy just barks, jumping through the thick white blanket. The snow is so deep that the dog has to wade through it, but he seems happy anyway. They all do.

A snowball suddenly explodes on Kouta's arm, and he whirls around, laughing, releasing Lucy's arm.

She doesn't know what to feel.

A snowflake swirls by her periphery, so Lucy looks around, suddenly really _seeing_ the snow for the first time. A part of her wants to stain it, make it red, but Kouta is standing a few feet away and she will _never_ hurt Kouta. She doesn't want to hurt Mayu either, and Nana is one of her own and the cousin still smiles and calls her Nyuu and-

Lucy looks up at the sky, because she was beginning to lose track of where the grey of the ground and the grey of the sky began.

White, puffy flakes of snow were slowly but surely falling from the sky. They dance as the wind pushes them further along, each one moving in its own dizzy pattern.

_Touch..._

Lucy, without really understanding why or thinking about it, reaches her hands up, her palms spread out flat, fingers pushing out as far as they would go without hurting.

Cold, soft snow land on Lucy's palms, melting as quickly as they land. Snow can't think, she knows that, but she still feels like it wants to play with her, like it wants her to smile.

"Nyuu-chan!"

Mayu is suddenly by her side; her cheeks flushed a pretty pink, her eyes shining. "Come see!"

Lucy lets Mayu grab her hand and pull her toward the others; too lost in the spell to feel anger or hate. This must be what it's like to be Nyuu, she thinks, but with her sense. She lets Mayu gently push her into a snowy embankment, the little girl flopping down next to her, spreading her arms wide.

"Let's make snow angels, Nyuu-chan!" Mayu whispers, like it's a special secret. Lucy smiles and nods, watching Mayu push her arms and legs through the snow in long sweeps, giggling as more flakes slowly float down toward them, almost glinting in the tired winter sun, like a cross between feathers and glitter.

Lucy moves her arms as well, watching the snow, caught. She feels so peaceful she nearly falls asleep, a perfect white tomb, the near-silence broken only by the sound of joyous laughter, which seems such a long distance away.

Lucy opens her eyes. It has nearly stopped snowing now. She is numb, but she doesn't care. Mayu's angel imprint lies beside her, the real girl smoothing the torso of a snowman, Kouta's hat perched firmly on its head. Nana giggles as she works on a smaller lump beside the snowman, with Yuka watching like an amused parent.

"Nyuu-chan!"

Lucy sits up slowly, snow stuck in her hair and she turns her head, seeing the others waving at her, indicating for them to follow her. It is time to go home.

Lucy lets herself smile, just once.


End file.
